October 31st, 2007

Happy Halloween!!!
=cD

It's that time again...

Cold and Flu season!!!! Everyone, make sure you have fun in the cold and then take care of the cold that follows, 'cause lemme tell ya, it's a doo-zie this year.
Huh... it occurs to me that people pay good money for this kind of altered state.
Some people, of course, are mentally troubled and in need of serious assistance. But the rest of us... should be stocking up on the hot teas and citrus.

Wow... it's been awhile, no?

Okay... it's been a busy few months on this end. Life being life, I suppose, that's all we can hope for. =c)
My recent discoveries in that time:

Cable TV (as opposed to satellite)
I must admit, I'm NOT a fan. I miss my dish! It's better than networks tho.

The new Vanessa Carlton CD, 'Heroes & Thieves':
For the record... I LOVE VANESSA. I wholly support that she's trying not to become a conformed and plastic-coated music-label-darling. I love her sound and her songwriting and her piano. But... Heroes and Thieves was a major disappointment for me. She was not singing within her vocal range, and the reaches turned out flat, particularly in 'More than This'. That's a 4minute and 48second long song, which, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get past the first ten seconds of vocals. =c( The songwriting and music itself was still her usual strong, but she should have passed them to another artist. It was not a good showcase.

That being said... 'Nolita Fairytale', 'Hands on Me' and a few others are still on my repeated favorites list. It's still the honest sound of 'Nessa, tho, so me an' the other Nessa'holics are saited for a little while.

CBS TV:
Kudos to CBS... it's so rare that I say that... but I must say this: Moonlight is one of the shining spots on fall TV. A return to classic story-telling. It's a vampire story, but they let the story tell the story instead of relying on the flash and bang of CSI-like special effects. They gave a few familiar faces a place to play, too, and hopefully those guys will bring up the acting standards for the newbies on-cast.

Now just watch, given that I've said this out-loud, they'll yank it from the line-up...

a note to self....

I wish to play with this, later, when I have time to waste on playing 'net games. It's apparently a browser-run, multiplayer game. I thought it looked interesting... but I'm weird like that.

http://www.travian.com/

Found at Missy Higgins' MySpace

Now, for the record, I do like Kelly Clarkson. I own her first CD. But I like Missy's sound considerably more. I also own two of Missy's CD's... but I haven't gotten to listen to the newest one yet because as soon as it came in the house, it mysteriously disappeared... (Personally, I suspect my sibling of the theft.) However, that preference aside, I totally agree with Mr. Lefsetz. The reasons he sites are all reasons I don't watch TV or listen to the radio anymore and prefer to buy direct from the artist. Less commercialization to fuss with.

*** found at www.myspace.com/missyhiggins***

IF ONLY KELLY CLARKSON HAD THE TALENT OF MISSY HIGGINS...according to Bob Lefsetz

For those of you that don't know, Bob Lefsetz is a Santa-Monica based music industry legend and author of the e-newsletter. "The Lefsetz Letter", he has been commentating on the industry for several years and had this to say about Missy in his latest letter....

"If only Kelly Clarkson had the talent of Missy Higgins.

We want our artists to contain a spark. Something deep inside that we can touch and ultimately hold, bonding us to them.

We live in a land of sold-out corporations telling us who to be and how to feel. And none of it registers with us, none of it reflects what we truly feel inside.

Life isn't about being famous, partying with Paris and Lindsay. Life is oftentimes drudgery, doing what you're supposed to, seemingly ad infinitum, until you get out of school and are free and can make your own decisions and find that no one cares. We need someone to give us hope, to speak to our alienation, to guide us through as we drift along in the river of life with more questions than answers.

They call these people artists.

That's what's lacking in mainstream music in the United States, artistry. Everybody's so whored out to the man, so busy making money, that the relationship with the fan has been sacrificed. And it's only this relationship that counts. We want to be fans. We need to be fans. We need to believe in something.

And what we believe in isn't what's plastered all over the media. Because then it's not ours. It's got to feel like ours. Even if everybody else has it. And when we go to the gig and see the sea of faces we believe that we have commonality with the assembled multitude, that we're an army more powerful than any sponsored by a government, we're like the North Vietnamese, we won't be beaten, we can't be beaten. Because oppressive forces can never take over our hearts and minds. Rock and roll used to be a nation separate from the system, impenetrable by the forces of commercialism, where we and our feelings ruled. And what kept us together was the artists.

We cut our hair like theirs. We wanted to look like them. We wanted to be them. Free from the constraints, being who we truly wanted to be.

And at the core is the artist. Not the executive, whether it be Clive Davis, Michael Rapino or Judy McGrath. The suits were all subsidiary to that waif who poured out her heart.

But we've had a lack of waifs. Certainly ones with a sense of melody, who touched our hearts with their truth.

Missy Higgins fits the bill."

Check out his site www.lefsetz.com

Druggies beware

This falls under the category of "Because I am a nerd."

According to an article from Wired Magazine's online quadrant, found here, scientists in China are working to assist the local law enforcement with drug control. I'm not sure if their motives are actually for the benefit of the community or out of generic scientific, sometimes arrogant, neutrality, but I find it interesting that they're doing it in that country as opposed to this one. Ketamine is an animal tranquilizer that has become big on the club scene apparently across the globe if it's hit China. America's had it's fair share of problems with Ketamine in recent years, too, hence my surprise that the field tests were apparently reserved to China. The article was an interesting one. However, it did nothing to quell my suspicions that most of the science-majors at the universities here in America are too regularly club-hopping with medicinal assistance to want to help out with law enforcement's efforts at curbing the dangerous activity. Alas, I have a pretty sad outlook on my own generation sometimes.

Live Earth Concerts

First order of business... today is 7/7/07 ... and that is just cool.

Second, Keith Urban performed as part of the Live Earth events in New York. They set up concerts all over the world, in over 130 countries. They had artists from a wide variety of genres, from ludacris and Akon to Dave Matthews band and Kelly Clarkson. (Also, of course, Keith Urban!) In the US they had concerts in New York (actually it was in Giants Stadium over in Jersey. I don't know why they advertised New York. That was unintelligent, imho.) and Washington DC. Globally there was an Australian concert, and the UK, a couple of places in Asia and more.

Somehow or another, to celebrate this whole save the earth kick concert that he's put together, Al Gore kicked everything off in Australia (yesterday) and then flew out here to the us... where, during the time I was watching, he pinged back and forth between DC and Jersey a couple of times... hello? I think I might just weigh in on the hypocrisy camp on that one.

But I'm proud of my boy Keith. He practices what he preaches, thank you. His tour buses are all eco-friendly and proud of it.

The concerts were good though. Even the artists I'd never heard of before I turned out liking what I heard. I'm not a rap fan, but I enjoyed ludacris' set pretty well. The audio on the net-cast wasn't all that impressive though. MSN is doing the coverage online and clips and soundbites will be available starting tomorrow, 7/8/07 for those who didn't watch it live online or on TV (or in person if you were lucky).

So yeah, everybody. Save our green-momma! heehee

A moment of politics

Olbermann: Bush, Cheney should resign

‘I didn’t vote for him, but he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.’

SPECIAL COMMENT

By Keith Olbermann

Anchor, 'Countdown'

Updated: 5:13 p.m. PT July 3, 2007

“I didn’t vote for him,” an American once said, “But he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.”

That—on this eve of the 4th of July—is the essence of this democracy, in 17 words. And that is what President Bush threw away yesterday in commuting the sentence of Lewis “Scooter” Libby.

The man who said those 17 words—improbably enough—was the actor John Wayne. And Wayne, an ultra-conservative, said them, when he learned of the hair’s-breadth election of John F. Kennedy instead of his personal favorite, Richard Nixon in 1960.

“I didn’t vote for him but he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.”

The sentiment was doubtlessly expressed earlier, but there is something especially appropriate about hearing it, now, in Wayne’s voice: The crisp matter-of-fact acknowledgement that we have survived, even though for nearly two centuries now, our Commander-in-Chief has also served, simultaneously, as the head of one political party and often the scourge of all others.

We as citizens must, at some point, ignore a president’s partisanship. Not that we may prosper as a nation, not that we may achieve, not that we may lead the world—but merely that we may function.

But just as essential to the seventeen words of John Wayne, is an implicit trust—a sacred trust: That the president for whom so many did not vote, can in turn suspend his political self long enough, and for matters imperative enough, to conduct himself solely for the benefit of the entire Republic.

Our generation’s willingness to state “we didn’t vote for him, but he’s our president, and we hope he does a good job,” was tested in the crucible of history, and earlier than most.

And in circumstances more tragic and threatening. And we did that with which history tasked us.

We enveloped our President in 2001.And those who did not believe he should have been elected—indeed those who did not believe he had been elected—willingly lowered their voices and assented to the sacred oath of non-partisanship.

And George W. Bush took our assent, and re-configured it, and honed it, and shaped it to a razor-sharp point and stabbed this nation in the back with it.

Were there any remaining lingering doubt otherwise, or any remaining lingering hope, it ended yesterday when Mr. Bush commuted the prison sentence of one of his own staffers.

Did so even before the appeals process was complete; did so without as much as a courtesy consultation with the Department of Justice; did so despite what James Madison—at the Constitutional Convention—said about impeaching any president who pardoned or sheltered those who had committed crimes “advised by” that president; did so without the slightest concern that even the most detached of citizens must look at the chain of events and wonder: To what degree was Mr. Libby told: break the law however you wish—the President will keep you out of prison?

In that moment, Mr. Bush, you broke that fundamental com-pact between yourself and the majority of this nation’s citizens—the ones who did not cast votes for you. In that moment, Mr. Bush, you ceased to be the President of the United States. In that moment, Mr. Bush, you became merely the President of a rabid and irresponsible corner of the Republican Party. And this is too important a time, Sir, to have a commander-in-chief who puts party over nation.

This has been, of course, the gathering legacy of this Administration. Few of its decisions have escaped the stain of politics. The extraordinary Karl Rove has spoken of “a permanent Republican majority,” as if such a thing—or a permanent Democratic majority—is not antithetical to that upon which rests: our country, our history, our revolution, our freedoms.

Yet our Democracy has survived shrewder men than Karl Rove. And it has survived the frequent stain of politics upon the fabric of government. But this administration, with ever-increasing insistence and almost theocratic zealotry, has turned that stain into a massive oil spill.

The protection of the environment is turned over to those of one political party, who will financially benefit from the rape of the environment. The protections of the Constitution are turned over to those of one political party, who believe those protections unnecessary and extravagant and quaint.

The enforcement of the laws is turned over to those of one political party, who will swear beforehand that they will not enforce those laws. The choice between war and peace is turned over to those of one political party, who stand to gain vast wealth by ensuring that there is never peace, but only war.

And now, when just one cooked book gets corrected by an honest auditor, when just one trampling of the inherent and inviolable fairness of government is rejected by an impartial judge, when just one wild-eyed partisan is stopped by the figure of blind justice, this President decides that he, and not the law, must prevail.

I accuse you, Mr. Bush, of lying this country into war.

I accuse you of fabricating in the minds of your own people, a false implied link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11.

I accuse you of firing the generals who told you that the plans for Iraq were disastrously insufficient.

I accuse you of causing in Iraq the needless deaths of 3,586 of our brothers and sons, and sisters and daughters, and friends and neighbors.

I accuse you of subverting the Constitution, not in some misguided but sincerely-motivated struggle to combat terrorists, but to stifle dissent.

I accuse you of fomenting fear among your own people, of creating the very terror you claim to have fought.

I accuse you of exploiting that unreasoning fear, the natural fear of your own people who just want to live their lives in peace, as a political tool to slander your critics and libel your opponents.

I accuse you of handing part of this Republic over to a Vice President who is without conscience, and letting him run roughshod over it.

And I accuse you now, Mr. Bush, of giving, through that Vice President, carte blanche to Mr. Libby, to help defame Ambassador Joseph Wilson by any means necessary, to lie to Grand Juries and Special Counsel and before a court, in order to protect the mechanisms and particulars of that defamation, with your guarantee that Libby would never see prison, and, in so doing, as Ambassador Wilson himself phrased it here last night, of becoming an accessory to the obstruction of justice.

When President Nixon ordered the firing of the Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox during the infamous “Saturday Night Massacre” on October 20th, 1973, Cox initially responded tersely, and ominously.

“Whether ours shall be a government of laws and not of men, is now for Congress, and ultimately, the American people.”

President Nixon did not understand how he had crystallized the issue of Watergate for the American people.

It had been about the obscure meaning behind an attempt to break in to a rival party’s headquarters; and the labyrinthine effort to cover-up that break-in and the related crimes.

And in one night, Nixon transformed it.

Watergate—instantaneously—became a simpler issue: a President overruling the inexorable march of the law of insisting—in a way that resonated viscerally with millions who had not previously understood - that he was the law.

Not the Constitution. Not the Congress. Not the Courts. Just him.

Just - Mr. Bush - as you did, yesterday.

The twists and turns of Plame-Gate, of your precise and intricate lies that sent us into this bottomless pit of Iraq; your lies upon the lies to discredit Joe Wilson; your lies upon the lies upon the lies to throw the sand at the “referee” of Prosecutor Fitzgerald’s analogy. These are complex and often painful to follow, and too much, perhaps, for the average citizen.

But when other citizens render a verdict against your man, Mr. Bush—and then you spit in the faces of those jurors and that judge and the judges who were yet to hear the appeal—the average citizen understands that, Sir.

It’s the fixed ballgame and the rigged casino and the pre-arranged lottery all rolled into one—and it stinks. And they know it.

Nixon’s mistake, the last and most fatal of them, the firing of Archibald Cox, was enough to cost him the presidency. And in the end, even Richard Nixon could say he could not put this nation through an impeachment.

It was far too late for it to matter then, but as the decades unfold, that single final gesture of non-partisanship, of acknowledged responsibility not to self, not to party, not to “base,” but to country, echoes loudly into history. Even Richard Nixon knew it was time to resign

Would that you could say that, Mr. Bush. And that you could say it for Mr. Cheney. You both crossed the Rubicon yesterday. Which one of you chose the route, no longer matters. Which is the ventriloquist, and which the dummy, is irrelevant.

But that you have twisted the machinery of government into nothing more than a tawdry machine of politics, is the only fact that remains relevant.

It is nearly July 4th, Mr. Bush, the commemoration of the moment we Americans decided that rather than live under a King who made up the laws, or erased them, or ignored them—or commuted the sentences of those rightly convicted under them—we would force our independence, and regain our sacred freedoms.

We of this time—and our leaders in Congress, of both parties—must now live up to those standards which echo through our history: Pressure, negotiate, impeach—get you, Mr. Bush, and Mr. Cheney, two men who are now perilous to our Democracy, away from its helm.

For you, Mr. Bush, and for Mr. Cheney, there is a lesser task. You need merely achieve a very low threshold indeed. Display just that iota of patriotism which Richard Nixon showed, on August 9th, 1974.

Resign.

And give us someone—anyone—about whom all of us might yet be able to quote John Wayne, and say, “I didn’t vote for him, but he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.”

© 2007 MSNBC Interactive

Yard work and Injuries

The two seem to go hand in hand. While out doors mixing mortar for a supporting wall, I twisted my ankle - badly - about two years ago and the injury never healed. It turned out that it had been broken in a small inconspicuous manner, so I have been babying the ankle along for the past six months since discovering that. It was doing famously, finally healing and beginning, after two long years, to look and act once again like an ankle should.

And then. I tried to assist with the yard work. Do-It-Yourself is an awesome movement that hearkens back to the American dream, to the cries of "Westward-Ho!" and the pioneers. We settle the land, we work with it, we ultimately control it and make it our own. Weekend-Warriors of the Bob Vila variety. But, for godsakes, when every time you try it and the earth beneath your feet seems to crack open in an attempt to swallow a part of your anatomy, it all becomes quite clear. Some people were meant for apartment-dwelling and public parks. I'm apparently one of them.

That being said... we have conquered! We have a paved patio. By this time next weekend, we will have a poor-man's outdoor-kitchen! Time to dust off the BBQ cookbooks!

google gadget reviews

I have been playing with the google gadgets like crazy lately. They are certainly entertaining. Mostly they're the entertainment of the hours-wasted-doing-nothing-but-having-fun-doing-it variety. I have comics, quotes, how-to's, news, and pictures all delivered to my google desktop daily. I even have a notepad and a drawing thingy tucked away somewhere. Oh, and we can't forget the three different clocks - alas, all set to California time - floating around my five-tabs.
I am unhappy to report that google only gives you five tabs to play with and I have yet to find how you add or subtract from those five. Also be ware of any non-google-made gadgets, check out their sources, because adding a virus to your google experience would not be very much fun at all.

Something I do like is that they give you the freedom to make your own gadgets. The only catch is that so far, I have tried three gadgets that were created and published by Joe Normal and not some 'puter guru. Of those three, only one of them has worked on my pages. Not good odds! All of that aside, however, it's not too darn bad for your money's worth. And considering they're *free*, I think you're crazy if you let some one con you in to paying for the gadget. (I'm sure google would have a shizfit if anyone tried that to begin with, but that's besides the point.)

All in all, check them out if you're easily amused like I am. =c)

Writing Meme - nerd alert!

Name 12 characters you have played in RPGs, before looking at the questions that follow. List your characters numbered 1 to 12, with the name of the RPG you played them in. Once you’ve picked your 12 characters, look at the questions and answer accordingly. (No peeking until you’ve picked your characters!) Put your answers behind a cut if available.

1. Laura Kyle - modern freeform, DC Comics based
2. Morgan Tanner - modern freeform
3. Deanna MacIver - western freeform
4. Sawyer Bishop - modern freeform
5. Siobhan Lyndsey - modern freeform
6. Nathan Jackson - freeform M7 based (You’d have to be a fan to get this one)
7. Vin Tanner - Same as #6
8. JD Dunne - Same as #6 & 5
9. Mackensey Tanner - fantasy/sci-fi freeform m7 based
10. Riley Rose - modern freeform
11. Michael MacGregor - modern freeform, N&A based
12. Mason Lyndsey - modern freeform

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1) Who would make a better college professor: 6 or 11?
Nathan, because he's more patient and doesn't get bored quite so easily, tolerates bullshit a little better and is much more authoritative. Did I mention he has more patience?

2) Do you think 2 is hot? How hot?
Hot? Well, uh, I guess. The male muses all seem to like her, some fight over her... ::shrug:: sure, if I was into that scene, I'd take her on.

3) 12 sends 8 on a mission. What is it, and does it succeed?
Mason, sending JD on a mission? Hell, probably to get coffee or fix his computer. ::snort:: Either one, marvelously successful with a very prank-oriented result.

4) What is, or would be, 9’s favorite book?
Mackensey would probably be into something like Animal Farm.

5) Would it make more sense for 2 to swear fealty to 6, or the other way around?
Yes, 2 to 6, if anything. Morgan's younger so will naturally defer to Nathan. Besides, he's practically an uncle and she tends to hold them in high regard. Alternately, Nathan's older and the uncle, not to mention male, so he would naturally be more protective of Morgan... But trumping that, neither of them are obedient to anyone, at all. Period. End of Sentence. So it would depend on the interpretation of 'fealty' for these two.

6) For some reason, 5 is looking for a room-mate. Should they share a studio apartment with 9, or 10?
10. Riley is actually old enough to pitch in on rent and Siobhan wouldn't run the risk of corrupting the uncorruptible.

7) 2, 7, and 12 have dinner together. Where do they go, and what do they discuss?
Vin and Morgan and Mason. LMAO!!!!!!!!!! It would most likely be to a fast food joint and would be spent with Vin and Mason trying to talk Morgan out of the apparent family business of law enforcement.

8] 3 challenges 10 to a duel. What happens?
Huh. Again, pardon me while i LMAO!!!!! Deanna *would* challenge Riley to a duel. They are both very tough personalities, very independent. Deanna's younger, conservative, and a control freak as well as rather naturally combative. Riley is a single-mother with relaxed morals. Those two could go head to head over the smallest things. Their duels would more likely be a battle or war of wits, however, and would result in some very heated conversations I only wish I was smart enough to write.

9) If 1 stole 8’s most precious possession, how would they get it back?
This is easy. Laura was a professional thief, and youngish. So if she stole it from JD, he'd probably not know about it until it was too late to know who took it. Besides, JD and Laura would be like peas in a pod if I ever resurrected her and introduced them, so odds are good that eventually he would get them back. (Sorry Casey. The fandom would like Laura better anyway.)

10) Suggest a title for a story in which 7 and 12 both attain what they most desire.
HA! I already have that one. I'm in the process of ... well, schemeing on it if not occasionally writing it. So far, the most fitting is 'the Wayward' since they are both rather wandering and normally just want peace and togetherness with their loved ones. Note: they are from two different genres in this case, so it would obviously need to be two different stories.

11) What kind of plot device would you use if you wanted 4 and 1 to work together?
It would likely be that Laura missed a court-date and Sawyer got sent to retrieve this young-pup thief, ending up somehow lost and on the run from mutual enemies.

12) If 7 visited you for the weekend, how would you get along?
Uhm... really? Probably not all that well. We're both too shy and quiet and I'd end up making a fool out of myself trying to compensate for that. He'd be amused more than likely, but I'd be traumatized out of fear that he wasn't amused.

13) If you could command 3 to perform any one task or service for you, what would it be?
I couldn't. Deanna doesn't take orders from anyone. Not even her father. She normally gives them. Very strong willed pain in the ass muse who started out quiet and tranquill, damnit.

14) Does anyone on your friends list resemble 11 (either in appearance or personality)?
Noooooot reeeeeally. The closest would be my dad in personality I guess? But there's still enough differences that that's a stretch.

15) If 2 had to choose sides between 4 and 5, which would it be?
Morgan would side with Sawyer, since he's daddy-number-2 and she likes him better than the woman I threatened to make her step-mother once. ::snicker::

16) What might 10 shout while charging into battle?
"Get the HELL out of my way!"

17) If you chose a song to represent 8, which song would you choose?
Gaaaaaaaaaaaawd. the ONLY one that's coming to mind at the moment is Ray Stevens' "Pirates Song?"

18) 1, 6, and 12 are having dim sum at a Chinese restaurant. There is only one scallion pancake left, and they all reach for it at the same time. Who gets to eat it?
Probably Laura because I don't think Mason's all that much of a Chinese fan for some reason, and Nathan's too polite not to defer to the hormonal teenager.

19) What might be a good pick-up line for 2 to use on 10?
... gawwwwwwwwwwwwd!!!! that's terrible!!!!! Riley is her aunt!!! LMAO!!! Probably reduces the options to a casual shrug and bored look and "If we weren't related, you know I'd fuck ya."

20) What would 5 most likely be arrested for?
Gawd. False charges. LMAO!!!!

21) What is 6’s secret?
That, uh, he actually loves McDonald's foods and succumbs to it on bad days?

22) If 11 and 9 were racing to a destination, who would get there first?
::snickering:: Michael, since he has a license to drive. Altho... Mac knows how to use a teleporter, so she would probably win if they got to keep their individual genre's technologies. Besides, Mackensey's more of a scrapper than Mike.

23) If you had to walk home through a bad neighborhood late at night, would you feel safer in the company of 7 or 8?
Ohhh… seVin, Easy. JD's too loveable and naive to win in a dark alley fight.

24) 1 and 9 reluctantly team up to save the world from the threat posed by 4’s sinister secret organization. 11 volunteers to help them, but it is later discovered that he/she is actually a spy for 4. Meanwhile, 4 has kidnapped 12 in an attempt to force their surrender. Following the wise advice of 5, they seek out 3, who gives them what they need to complete their quest. What title would you give this fic?
okay... lets see if i got this right here...

mac and laura team up to save the world from sawyer's secret evil organization. mike says he'll supervise. sawyer kidnaps mason to convert him i mean force their surrender. von tells them to go to deanna to solve all their problems.....

well, the first obvious problem is that:

1) sawyer's secret organization is NOT super secret anymore... he's the one chara who's very open about his "secret". He's been out of the closet since he was fifteen years old.

2) mac is the daughter of sawyer's HUSBAND... so i guess that might work since stepkids don't normally like their stepparents...

3) what doesn't work is two teenage females forces to stop the 'gay revolution' because, well, that just leads to an obvious shipping between the females (SQUICK!! THOSE TWO?!?!) that would defeat the whole purpose.

4) sawyer's happily married to the object of his obsession, so he would not want to convert mason, considering mason is actually his brother... more squick. and kidnapping mason wouldn't force mac or laura's surrender because the both of them are completely oblivious to the man. what's more, mason would enjoy a happy vacation free of family members or something if he were kidnapped. LOL!

5) von would not send anyone to deanna to solve their problems. poor deanna has too many of her own problems to worry about saving the world, as does von, but she's older and mothering, so she'd be looking to protect deanna from the stress. von would more likely solve their problems because she wants to have cousins someday and converting mason would not produce that.

GAWD. i don't know where to start. the only title i could think of would be 'the comedy of errors' but even that doesn't do this hilarious suggestion justice. I love it so much!! i'll have to play with this sometime. ::giggle::

I Love sandra's suggestion of "and the slash shall set you free"... that's almost worth writing and trying to publish!! LOL!!!

PotC3 - world's end, blog's beginning!

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

The premieres for heavily-fan-influenced movies are always interesting to attend. Pirates lined the floors of the local Cinemark theater for long hours just for the sake of being among the first to see the show. For the first time (that I can remember, anyway) the midnight premieres were bumped up to 8pm - presumably to allow for the younger audiences to enjoy and still attend school on friday morning. Well, screw enjoyment, the movie theaters still only care about the bottom line. But I digress.

This movie delivered. Over the past year, I have heard hundreds of theories, guesses, and added my own fan-ish desires to the melting pot. My only requests of the screenwriters was a tighter storyline and don't let Elizabeth and Jack hook up - sorry to the E/J shippers out there, but, Will's too much of a lost puppy without Elizabeth and it would be just plain bad writing and bad form to lose that character out of fandom-shippyness.

Now I'm not here to throw up spoilers and regurgitate a wonderful movie just to ruin it for everyone else. I'm a critic if there ever was one and my aim is quality over shineyness, a solid base and substance before the dazzle of the bullshit, thank you. So for the purposes of this review, suffice it to say that I got my hoped for storyline. This one felt less like a fanfiction fabrication and more like another installment in the 'Pirates' set. It was more finished and polished up with a lot of details that sent the trilogy's fans howling with laughter as they recognized the inside joke to otherwise common scenery or lines.

Characterization in this one was excellent as well, no more of the characters acting just-so and within a predictable set of behaviors that we already knew from the first movie. This time around, the characters went to the ends of the earth to grow a bit of dimension. Even Will took on an unexpected twist and I wound up very much liking that character by the end of it. In Dead Man's Chest, conversely, I just wanted to smack him every time he showed up. All we saw was this mindless little pawn of Elizabeth's private-stalker-club whereas now, tahdah, the darling boy has some depth to him, some meat on his bones to balance out Orlando's inner drama-fiend.

'At World's End' tied things up nicely and they were able to open up a door for a completely new story if they wanted to bring the franchise back for a fourth film. I've heard rumors that there will be a fourth one but I haven't checked in to it personally. As always, stick around until the credits have rolled. They either start the new movie or finish the third one. Either scenario, I'm happy with it. It did not leave the audience at that uncomfortable cliff with vital questions going unanswered. They completed a story, and what's better, they did it in an entire arch; each movie held it's own weight and was able to stand alone to a degree, but when folded altogether, we have continuity. That is so rare that studios will go out on that limb.

All in all, GOOD MOVIE!!